Singers in traditional costume during transhumance festival, French Pyrenees.

The Couserans Transhumance

Celebrating an age-old mountain tradition in the French Pyrenees.

Every June villages of the Ariège Pyrénées celebrate the transhumance by throwing a big party. What better way to showcase the culture which binds these communities and to share their traditional songs and dance.

Traditional French Alpine chalet

Traditional Alpine Chalet

A timeless design classic

Widely emulated and now highly coveted, the mountain chalet is a design classic whose original constructors succeeded in creating a comfortable and supremely practical home.

Annecy

Annecy: perfectly irresistible

Haute-Savoie, French Alps

Annecy’s irresistible lakeside setting and proximity to top class ski resorts have created one of the most desirable locations in which to live in France.

Tarine cattle, Beaufortain

Alpine Regional Cheeses

A taste for mountain living

Discover traditional methods of cheese-making in the valleys and the alpages, see the production process, buy and sample the best the region has to offer.

Beaufort Cheesemaking

Beaufort Cheesemaking

The highly prized beaufort Chalet d'Alpage

In the high alpages beside Mont-Blanc we go in search of an award-winning producer of Beaufort, one of the most highly-prized of all mountain cheeses.

Fort de Tournoux in the Vallée de l'Ubaye

The French National Parks

Looking after France’s unspoilt mountain areas

Four of France's ten National Parks lie within mountainous zones. We take a look at what makes the Vanoise, Ecrins, Mercantour and Pyrenees National Parks so special.